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    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
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    321,452
    Perspectives
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    42
    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that God is identical to his nature.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Aquinas himself distinguishes esse commune (being in general) from God's esse, suggesting even within classical theism nature and individual are not simply identical.
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    • 2.If God were strictly identical to his nature, there could be no meaningful distinction between God's existence and his essence, collapsing into the Anselmian ontological argument's most contested premise.
      ?

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    • 3.Scotus's formal distinction demonstrates that even in a single simple being, rationes can differ formaliter without numerical multiplicity, undermining the inference from immateriality to nature-identity.
      ?

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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.A nature is a universal or abstract kind, while God is a concrete particular individual—these belong to categorically distinct ontological types.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Identity requires categorical sameness; asserting identity across categorically distinct types generates a formal contradiction, not a theological insight.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.If we embrace a constituent approach to ontology, the divine nature can be coherently conceived as identical to God.
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    • 2.Being immaterial, there is nothing in God to distinguish him from his nature.
      ?

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